New-look Bury St Edmunds begin their fourth season in National League Two South with a home fixture against Henley Hawks at The Haberden today (3pm).

East Anglian Daily Times: Ollie Watson, who will captain the Bury St Edmunds side against Henley Hawks today. Picture: STEVE WALLEROllie Watson, who will captain the Bury St Edmunds side against Henley Hawks today. Picture: STEVE WALLER (Image: � Stephen Waller)

Bury, with Director of Rugby Jon Curry at the helm, have revamped their squad over the summer, with more emphasis placed on local and regional recruitment.

However, there have been some high-profile arrivals from further afield, including Chilean international scrum-half Jan Hasenlechner, Argentine winger Franco Cutuogno and most recently New Zealander Ben Leng, an inside centre.

“We have had a very busy summer,” explained Curry.

“But I am very happy with the way things have unfolded. We’ve had a good pre-season, although you never know how things are going to turn out until the nitty-gritty of the new season starts.

“We actually signed Ben (Leng) earlier in the summer, but he was then contacted by (Championship side) Doncaster, so we said – ‘brilliant’ – and off he went on trial for them. But he’s back now and we’re delighted he will be playing for us.

“You want to bring in quality players, wherever they might come from, but the perfect scenario is to develop a level of rugby with players from Suffolk, rather than just draw from further afield,” added Curry.

He continued: “I don’t know a great deal about Henley. They have made a lot of changes, like us, about 10 changes in all.”

Other new faces arriving at The Haberden this summer have included back row forward Tom Brown, who has returned after a spell in France, winger Finlay Sharp (from Clifton RFC), tight-head prop Toby Hill (from Hartpury College) and scrum-half James Adams (from Broadstreet).

Of the new recruits, Leng and Adams will start against Henley, while Sharp will be among the replacements.

Bury finished in eighth spot last season, having been 11th in 2016-17 and sixth in their first season at this level in 2015-16.

BURY: Robinson, Argerich, Pozzi, Graham, Scholes, Browne, Watson, Uri. J Adams, Perez, Wiltshire, Leng, Kohler, O’Reilly, Ritchie. Replacement: Hill, Bixby, Wilson, C Adams, Sharp.

- Colchester entertain Diss in their first league fixture of the season in London One North this afternoon (3pm).